Deer Hunting in Old Mexico

There are some big deer south of the border. Some nice mule deer as well.

These days anything in Mexico would make me nervous

There are some outfitters that will pick you up at the Laredo airport to take you across the border to the ranch. Some also have rifles to use so you don’t have to go through the trouble of bringing in a rifle and ammo.

Trying to convince my wife that it’s safe will be the biggest hurdle.

On a private lease in Old Mexico. Been on it since 2004. Took my 5 3/4 year old son down with me on Dec 26th and came back last Friday. Took photos and some video to put together a much more in depth outdoors post because these questions come up from time to time.

We have 18,000 acres and there are 7 of us on the lease this year. Ranch next to us in 32,000 acres and they are related to the family that owns our ranch. Another ranch next to us is almost 70,000 acres and is owned by the brothers that started Cemex (largest cement company in Mexico and one of the largest in the world).

If you go to Google Earth and type in La Botija (Mexico) you will see a few buildings. The ranch house we stay in is the largest... a 1200 sq ft house with a red roof. The tack room is just below and the long narrow buildings are where the cowboys stay when they work cattle on the ranch.

I cross at the International Trade Bridge about 18-20 miles from Laredo. Pass through a town called Anahuac (pronounced "Anagua") then on to a town called Lampazzos. Lampazzos is about an hour and forty minutes from border. Fill up truck tanks and spare gas cans then head out to La Botija. 1 1/2 hours on private ranch roads so total time on the road in Mexico to the ranch gate is just under 3 1/2 hours. Once we hit our ranch gate it is about 7 miles to the ranch house.

A photo of the ranch house and buildings I took last week. You can match them up with Google Earth. [/img]

Just had a bulldozer in and they did over 70 miles of senderos. Cattle company that leases ranch did the work. [/img]



We have good years and bad years. Properties are so large we are totally dependent on rainfall... spring rains and early summer rains... for antler growth. [/img] [/img]

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Everything is low fenced and all the ranches next to us are low fenced. Like I said I am going to put together and all inclusive post that starts at the border with customs and shows the journey to the ranch and photos and videos of where we stay and what the place looks like.

Awesome post Tridentds! Looking forward to reading more about it!

Can you recommend any outfitters? I’m not looking for a “five star corporate” place (a bunk bed a sleeping bag suits me fine)- just a reputable outfitter with quality deer

Always wanted to hunt Mexico. These days I think I'd rather go down there for a Coues or giant Mule deer.

How big a pain in the arse is it to bring meat back from Mexico?

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There will be posters here who will point out that Mexico is too dangerous to visit

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I'm not saying its too dangerous, I agree its likely perfectly fine.

But I also don't think its fair to argue that Mexico is safer then just hunting a lease in Alabama, Mississippi, or Louisiana.

Their country, their rules, they can have both

I'm sure that there are many who visit and hunt there and have a great time. When I worked in a small town in Texas the local tractor guy went with some of his friends down there and as they were driving over the border had a .22 round in the back of the pickup noticed by the Federales. Instead of making nice and maybe doing a $100 handshake one of them popped off and the lot of them spend a weekend in the jail instead of on their lease. I've been offered since then and have declined due to that story.